Hidden Mage
by Fanfic Authors' Fanfic Author
Summary: A forgotten, nameless character brought to life. He had a few pages in Alanna's story - now here is his own.
1. Introductions

"...cannot promise her safety... ...understand the infant is... ...will be reared by us. ...dare not shelter you... ...must go soon... ...I have no choice."  
  
Ael Flightson sat up with a start, to find himself on the floor in a twist of sheets. He swore and stood up. This was the fifth week in a row he had dreamed the same thing. He straightened his sheets, but rather than get back into bed he decided to take a walk outside.  
  
Daughter Childkeeper would be angry if she found him, but he didn't really care at the moment. He was thirteen, after all - he was almost too big for the small dormitory beds in the Children's Quarter already.  
  
He deftly swung out of the window and slid down the vine that crept up the thick stone wall of the Mother of Waters convent. As his bare feet silently hit the ground he wondered again about the dream. Daughter Childkeeper had told him, when he first mentioned the dreams, that it would probably be a memory of a conversation he had long forgotten, but this didn't feel like a memory. For one thing he hadn't seen it through his own eyes, unless he was floating three metres above the ground at the time, which was unlikely. Besides, he was certain he had seen First Daughter jian Cadao in it, and he had only met her once.  
  
So if they weren't from a memory, what were they? Ael had already ruled out randomness - every night for over a month did not seem random. Suddenly he stumbled over a step - his feet had taken him to the Lower Gardens automatically, his favourite place.  
  
He sat down on an ornamental bench. He knew that he was an orphan - he had been brought up by the Daughters, in a time when few orphans survived. He supposed he ought to be grateful for that. Zhir Anduo's rein, while tenuous at first, was at least an improvement upon the chaos which had gripped Sarain when jin Wilima ruled. Or so he was taught, at least.  
  
But whenever he asked about his past, all he got was a lecture on the change-over. Nothing about himself, or where they got him from. All the other orphans in his dormitory would tell much-embroidered tales of being left on the doorstep by a dying mother, or snatched from the hands of a crazed K'mir who had murdered their entire family. The twins Siam and Rachel knew for a fact that the convent had been looking after them while their father fought in zhir Anduo's army, and stayed on when he died. Regudun's mother had been the sister of one of the daughters, but she and her husband died in an epidemic. Most of the other children were there to learn, or while their parents were away. Only the orphans were permanent.  
  
Only Ael had no history. Vague talk of confusion and war were no help. Was his family killed by soldiers? Did his mother die in childbirth? Did he have any brothers or sisters? He asked the daughters again and again, but they wouldn't say anything. He didn't even have a proper name. All the others were jin something or jian something, but it seemed like nobody even knew who his family was. Flightson. What kind of name was that for a Sarenite? It sounded like a Tortallan name. He had once entertained the notion that he was actually from Tortall, but one glance in the mirror disillusioned him - nope, he was Saren all right.  
  
Suddenly Ael sensed someone coming down the path. He hesitated a moment and hid behind the bench. Whoever it was probably had about as much right to be here as he did, but he wanted to take no chances. He concentrated on being invisible, but nearly gave himself away by an intake of breath when he saw who it was...  
  
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A/N: So what do you think of the start? Please review. The chapters won't all be this short, but I'm just starting. I have this itch for character development - I always wonder about the minor characters, their history, their background, and what happens to them after. There are an awful lot of them in the Tortall books. If you've read the entire Alana quartet, and you are attentive, you'll have figured out who Ael is. If you haven't you're probably one of those people who concentrate on the plot and the main character, or at least people with names, and you'll just have to wait and see to find out. 


	2. Revelations

Ael silently slipped out from behind the bench and padded down the footpath after the tall, cloaked man. Cat-quiet, he followed him right to the middle of the Lower Gardens, where there was a rather pretty rose bower which incidentally screened those inside it from view.  
  
But not from hearing...  
  
"Do you have it?"  
  
"Yeah. You got the money?"  
  
"First show me. I didn't come all the way here for a fake."  
  
There was a rustling noise. "There, guv. Just as promised. Now where's my gold?"  
  
"You... won't be needing it."  
  
"What-" Then there was a hiss, then a thump that sounded ominously like a body slithering to the floor. The cloaked man muttered something which Ael strained his ears for but didn't quite catch. There was a *woomph* noise and the cloaked man stalked out, tucking something into his clothes.  
  
Ael followed him further, concentrating on "not being there", but when the man reached the gate Ael realized that it was time to go back and he could not follow him much further without risking discovery. On his home turf he could hide like a shadow, but out in the streets...  
  
As he crept away he wondered what on earth was going on. Why was Paguan jin Quebac, jin Anduo's chief mage, creeping around in the gardens of the Mother of Waters convent? And who was he meeting- Ael gasped. The man in the bower! Quietly, he changed direction and headed back to the gardens.  
  
When he entered the bower there was no-one there, however on closer inspection there was a fine layer of ash on the ground. Ael knelt and picked some up, rubbing it between his fingers. Yes, he could feel some small magical residue in them. Then he remembered the strange noise after the mage performed the spell. It sounded just like when his science teacher had attempted to demonstrate the principles of sulfur and saltpeter and blown up his desk...  
  
Ael stood up and backed away. Those were the remains of whoever the mage had met... well that was one way to prevent word getting around. He quickly mumbled the last rights over the ashes and sped back to his dormitory.  
  
He slipped through the window and dived between the covers just as the cocks crowed, and Daughter Childkeeper bustled into the room.  
  
"Rise and shine, children!" Daughter Childkeeper was currently a plump, rosy-cheeked matronly woman called Mina jian Fatuo. However the Daughters of the temple were called by their roles unless distinction from the previous occupier of the position was necessary. That was for those jobs that were on rotas. The Hag Daughter, for instance, was for life, and did not reveal her name.  
  
As children rose groaning from their beds, noise filled the large East dormitory. There were many children staying in the convent - it was inviolate territory and as such safe from the clan-wars, K'mir and who knew what else that went on outside. They were given weekly excursions to the market to prepare them somewhat for the outside world, although those who were in direct danger for one reason or another were kept inside by order of their parents.  
  
Ael had not given a thought about what he would do when he left the convent, as orphans did in their sixteenth year, when they were judged able to take care of themselves. He just assumed that he would manage, as he had managed in the convent life and all his classes, without really concentrating on it.  
  
His teachers did not notice him - a lot of people didn't. He simply sat in the corner and absorbed information. This had led to him and his friend Reg to leave the classroom "sick" just minutes before the notorious Sulphur And Saltpeter Incident. When they heard the explosion, Reg ran to get help, leaving Ael to cautiously open the door on the shocked and generally unconscious class and beat out the flames. Reg was very good at being noticed, almost Ael's opposite. It was strange that they were best friends. However they didn't normally sit together in class - Reg's total inability to be inconspicuous meant that Troublemaker status was automatically given to those he sat with in class, and interfered with learning.  
  
On the day of the Incident Ael had sat in class and listened as usual, but as the teacher prepared his ingredients he got a niggling suspicion that he had read about this in one of the Winding Circle books which were kept in the library as fairly accurate sources of knowledge. He couldn't quite remember, but he thought it might be a good idea not to be there when the experiment took place. He signaled Reg, with whom he had worked out a code of sorts, and Reg immediately jumped up, groaned, and persuaded the teacher to let him go to the sick room. He was almost to the door and everyone was turning back to their studies when Ael said "I think I should go with him, just in case" and rushed out before any disagreements could be voiced. Barely ten steps down the corridor, just as Ael began to explain, that *woomph* noise had occurred and explanations became unnecessary.  
  
That noise... What could the man have given jin Quebac that was of such secrecy he had to be killed? And why do it in the convent gardens? Ael pondered this as he met up with Reg, who was talking to Siam jian Gawer, who was waiting for her sister Rachel to emerge from making up her face in the bathroom, where she had lately been spending increasing amounts of time since the arrival in the convent of a nobleman's youngest son to escape the fighting on the border.  
  
Ael walked up behind them and tapped Reg on the shoulder. Reg jumped. "Hey!" He exclaimed. "How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?"  
  
"Sorry," Ael said absentmindedly, his thoughts still on last night's events, "I forgot."  
  
At this point Rachel came out and the four of them started off to class. They were all orphans - Ael had been there the whole time, and the Reg had sort of gravitated to him out of solidarity. They had become friends with the twins when they first arrived, and were brought closer together when their father died.  
  
They entered their first class - History of Saren. Ael sighed. For some reason history teachers were always so boring. He liked history, not least because he didn't know his own, but Master jin Bayou droned on and on till it was all Ael could do to listen. He generally managed to keep vaguely on track by reading along in his textbook, but it was still horribly boring.  
  
They all sat down and resigned themselves to an hour of boredom.  
  
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Wow, this, for me, is a pretty long chapter! But, it's taking longer than most of the others. Oh well.  
  
Reviewers: Thank you GoldenSquirrel and YzWhiz. Lady Riahanna Dragoneye: Actually I have no idea where it's going, possibly. 


	3. Puzzlement

It wasn't until the afternoon that Ael was able to tell his friends what had happened. They had gathered in one of the empty rooms and listened attentively. Now there was a stunned silence.  
  
"Um," Reg said cautiously, "are you certain this wasn't a- a dream or something?"  
  
"Don't be ridiculous!" Ael snapped. "The only dreams I've been having for the past MONTH are the weird ones with the travelers in the courtyard."  
  
Rachel tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "Well, I think we should tell someone. That mage must have been up to no good."  
  
"Don't be silly," interjected her quieter, more sensible twin, "Who would believe us? All the proof we have is some ash on the ground and the word of a boy who shouldn't have been there anyway! They'll think we're just causing trouble, and then if we find out something else they won't believe us about that either."  
  
"Why don't we go have a look at the bower?" Reg suggested.  
  
When no objections were voiced the four stood up and made their way to the Lower Gardens.  
  
. .  
.***  
  
Reg crouched in the bower just as Ael had done last night, sifting the dust between his fingers.  
  
"You have to admit, Ay, it seems exactly like ordinary dirt."  
  
Ael looked puzzled. "But can't you feel his magic in it? I mean it's fading a little now, but it's still there."  
  
Siam knelt down by Reg. "Here let me have a look, I have the gift. ...yes, it does feel a bit... a bit *yellow* if you know what I mean."  
  
Rachel looked strangely at Ael. "You don't have the gift do you? I mean you don't do magic classes, and we were all examined by the Hag Daughter for it, but you can feel the magic in the dirt."  
  
"Umm... I dunno," he said thoughtfully, "I don't feel any magic in *me*. Just the dirt. Like..., you know how magic is always a colour, depending on whose it is? Well I can feel the yellow magic in this dirt - it's obviously the mages - and I can feel green magic in you, Siam, but I can't feel any colour in me."  
  
Siam looked up at him. "I can't feel any magic in you either. Obviously that's why you were never chosen for magic class, because they couldn't see it in you."  
  
"Then how can he feel the magic in you and the dirt?" Exclaimed Reg.  
  
"Maybe we should ask-"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Okay, okay, Ael, calm down. Why don't we look it up in the library? Maybe they have a book on magic you can't feel."  
  
"Okay."  
  
. . .  
. ***  
  
In the library they split up to search the shelves. Ael soon found himself drifting to the Winding Circle books he had read about gunpowder in. Winding Circle was on the other side of the world, but many of their books had been brought here by traveling mages because of their reliability.  
  
After looking through all the old books on magic, his attention was caught by a slimmer, newer-looking volume titled Specialist Magic. When he turned to the contents page he saw that it listed Plant magic, Smith magic, Thread magic, Weather magic, Stone magic, Dancing magic, Cooking, Woodwork, Water and a whole list of others.  
  
In the introduction he read about a growing amount of mages who were not discovered because their magic didn't come from within themselves, but from other things - whatever their specialty was. He frowned, picked up the book and went to find the others.  
  
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Well, here's chapter number three! Okay, everyone, I haven't updated for god knows how long, so I'll try make up for it now the hols are coming on!  
  
Thank you all Reviewers:  
  
BenaBerry: I'd have thought it obvious from the Dream Dialogue, besides if you read the book she clearly says "The other children will be returned to their homes/families" or something, but hey at least you figured out where it's from.  
  
Lady Riahanna Dragoneye: I always thought Winding Circle was in the same world but in, you know, Foreign Parts. It sounds like the same world. Tamora Pierce should clarify that. I just thought it was a pretty good authority on everything, it wasn't originally going to *be* a plot bunny - do you know how those things BREED?! But now I've changed my mind - you'll just have to wait and see.  
  
Lady Bee: That would be because I haven't explained anything yet, I wanted to get it posted plus there's this thing called suspense. You'll have to reread the books.  
  
Brigit: If you know how to put italics in, do tell! Please! I never have much text in the middle of a paragraph. Sometimes I have "speech" he said, walking along the path, "speech" or she did this and that, saying "speech", or in some cases putting the speech in a new paragraph would leave like half a line of non-speech in the other paragraph so it isn't really interfering with your comprehension of the story. In this bit, :::::was almost to the door and everyone was turning back to their studies when Ael said "I think I should go with him, just in case" and,::: breaking the paragraph would completely bugger up the flow of the story, and it's not like it's a whole friggin soliloquy, it's just one line! Why are quotation marks for sarcasm annoying? If I don't put quotation marks I'm going to get reviewers complaining in confusion, so, quotation marks stay. 


End file.
